What If?
by Nightsailer
Summary: Sarah starts having dreams about what could have happened in the Labyrinth, and she knows the only one she can turn to is Jareth. Slowly she starts to regret some of her decisions, and wishes to go back. But what if the Goblin King has forgotten her...?
1. Too Many Possibilities

Sarah sat at her desk, puzzling over some math homework. It had been but hours since she had gotten back from the Labyrinth, but she still had to finish some last minute schoolwork. A streamer fell across the corner of her textbook, and she flicked it away with a smile. The party celebrating her return from the Labyrinth had ended just a half an hour beforehand. _They were all there!_ She thought happily. _I was hoping it wasn't a dream…except…_

…except one part. Jareth. His image kept twirling around in her head, repeating the same words over and over. _"I ask for so little. Just let me rule you; and you can have…EVERYTHING that you want."_

For a moment she just concentrated on that image, which was created down to the last detail in her mind. She could even make out the sadness in his eyes.

_Sadness in his eyes…?_

She shook her head violently and leaned blearily over the problems. _I need to forget about him. It's not like I'll ever see him again…_Sighing, she read the first problem.

"What if Jenny hadn't eaten the two apples? Would that have changed the overall product of the orchard?" Sarah scribbled down the answer and moved on. "What if half of the apples had been rotten? How would that have affected the overall product of the orchard?"

_What if Sarah HAD stayed with the Goblin King…?_

Sarah blinked and read over the page. The question was no where to be found. Abruptly she sat up from her desk, nearly tipping over the chair. "I need some sleep," she mumbled. Yawning, she stretched out on the bed and was asleep in seconds.

***

_"There's such a fooled heart…beating so fast, in search of new dreams…a love that will last, within your heart…I'll place the moon…within your heart…"_

DONG…DONG….DONG….

Sarah jerked awake, eyes darting to the clock at the side of the room. People in masks still watched her from the circle that had formed around her and Jareth, all not seeming to notice that the clock had just chimed that it was just a short time till the thirteenth hour. But through all her worry, a tingling sensation shot up and down every limb, making her fingers appear to be charged with electricity. Then she realized her position.

She was dancing with her back to the Goblin King, who had his one hand wrapped lightly around her waist and the other just grazing her chin. His cheek was pressed to hers, and she had one hand up behind his head, gently stroking his hair.

The hour chimed again from the corner of the ballroom. Sarah jumped, wishing she could just forget about the time and stay with Jareth…

…forever.

"Jareth," she murmured. "Do I have to go…?"

He expertly swirled her around to face him, bringing his face within inches of his own. "You don't ever have to leave if you don't want to." He held out a hand and summoned a crystal. Holding it out to her, he said, "All you have to do is take it."

Sarah reached for it, then hesitated. "But what about Toby?"

Jareth held it closer to her. "He'll be here. He might not be in the same form, but you'll always be able to see him."

Sarah smiled at him. "…Ok." She took the bauble.

The ballroom dissolved around her. "Ahhh! Jareth!!!" She turned to cling to the goblin king, and he held her close.

"Don't worry," he said softly, "we're just going to my throne room."

Sarah nodded and let her head rest against his shoulder. Soon the room formed around them, and Jareth let her go with a quick squeeze. Toby sat in the floor attended by various goblins.

"Toby!" Sarah exclaimed. She started to run forward to grab her little brother, but Jareth held out an arm to stop her.

"Not yet." He spun a crystal up on his finger, then threw it at the little boy. Sarah screamed.

Toby had turned into a goblin.

"Jareth what did you do?!" She screeched.

***  


Sarah sat up in bed, still shouting the question. Slowly she started to calm down, the fact that it was a dream finally dawning on her.

_But it was so real!_ She thought, pressing a hand to her pounding heart. _What's happening…?_

  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hope you liked it! I know I have another Labyrinth fanfic, but I just had this idea. ^.^ R&R!!!


	2. Kill Me

Ok ok I'm back now… Wow I'm getting pretty behind in my fan fiction. Probably because of this stupid dislocated shoulder…. I'm home from school today because of it. I slept through my MRI!! Aren't you proud of me? ^-^ Ok well I'll let you read now R&R!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sarah couldn't sleep the rest of the night. She tossed and turned, but the image of Toby as a goblin kept jarring her awake. So finally she just sat at her desk and stared out the window.

_I wonder if that would really have happened if I had stayed in the Labyrinth…_She watched the leaves rustle in the midnight wind, listening to its song against the trees. It seemed to have a certain rhythm to it as the breeze picked up and died away in turn…a familiar rhythm. Soon she found herself singing along to the tuneless beat.

"I'll paint you mornings of gold, spin you valentine evenings, though we're strangers till now, we're choosing the path between the stars…" She stretched her slender fingers to the sky, tracing a streak of darkness that strung through the sparkling diamonds.

_I wonder if he still thinks of me…?_

Abruptly she shook her head. _I need to forget the Labyrinth. _Swinging her legs over the side of her chair, she crept back into her bed and waited for the sun to rise.

~*~

She had fallen into a light doze when her alarm rang the next morning. Grumpily she reached for the button. When she couldn't reach it, she sighed and yanked the cord out of the wall. Silence filled the room once more. Sarah pulled her pillow up over her head, hoping it would drown out the call from her stepmother she knew would come.

"Sarah! Did you unplug your alarm again?!" Karen had turned the knob and entered the girl's room. The darkened clock was her only answer. The older woman gave an exasperated sigh and went to drag the pillow off her stepdaughter's head. "Get up, you're going to be late."

"I don't feel good."

"You say that every day!" Karen finally succeeded in stealing the pillow away from Sarah. "Now get downstairs before I drag you there!" 

A few minutes later Sarah was seated at the table, irritably being served a breakfast of pancakes from her stepmother. When Karen offered her a glass of orange juice, she waved it away and started moving her pancakes around on her plate. Her stepmother shook her head and put the glass back into the cabinet.

"I don't see why you're always so grumpy in the morning," Karen said. "I mean, if you're this way now when you have to get up at 6:30, I can't imagine what you'll be like when you start working. Your father and I wake up at 5, at the latest."

Sarah ignored her.

"Young lady, you seemed in a good enough mood last night when we came home from our date. What possible could have changed overnight?"

"Will you leave me alone?!" Sarah pounded her fist on the table. "I'm TRYING to eat, here!"

Karen stared at her stepdaughter. Then with a jerky nod, she turned back to her cooking, leaving the young girl to steam.

After Sarah had finished her breakfast, she grabbed her backpack and was out the door without even a goodbye. The bus waited at the corner of the street as always, and she ran gladly to meet it. Even school was better than her home on days like these.

It was a 45 minute ride to school, since she was the first stop. As usual Sarah took the back seat of the bus, letting her head drop tiredly against the windowpane. She watched the scenery fly by with heavy eyelids.

She hadn't even noticed that she had fallen asleep.

~*~

"We have you now!"

"No more running away for you ever again!"

Sarah looked from leering face to leering face in horror. She was chained to a hard stone wall of a cell, the shackles digging mercilessly into her wrists. Her own blood cascaded down her arms from how tight the bonds were. "What's going on??!"

"Quiet, girl!" A goblin smacked her across the face. "After what you've done, you have no right to ask questions!"

"Ahh…" Her face stung from the blow. Slowly she opened one eye and looked around.

Didymus, Hoggle, and Ludo were all in similar shackles beside her. Not a one of them moved.

"WHAT DID YOU DO?!" She screamed, struggling against the chains. "WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY FRIENDS?!"

Before she knew it, a spear was held to her neck. "Calm down, they'll be fine. I just wish I could say the same for you!" It dug into her skin a hair, drawing a thin line of red liquid. She flinched.

_Why won't someone help me?_ Her eyes traveled to each of her captors in turn. Then they fell on Jareth, who was standing in the back of the room, bouncing Toby on his hip.

"Jareth!" Her voice flooded with relief. "Please! Call off your goblins!" 

Cool blue eyes caught her stare. "And why would I do that, little Sarah? You lost the goblin battle, and we all know the only price for loss is death, now don't we?" His smirk pierced her heart. Then he turned to his subjects. "Kill her." He laughed as his minions set upon her, then walked away.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

What if what if what if…wow, there are so many possibilities! I won't do too many, though…and if you have any ideas, please speak up! R&R!!


End file.
